Heartbeats
Episode 3, Season 5 of War. This goes out to all you ridiculous Adderfall fans out there. IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE. Lord. But you guys are so cute. xD And every single time I write a TOTALLY INNOCENT SCENE with them in it, you poison it. Love y'all. xDD <3 Heartbeats Lionwing curled her lip. Shadowsong was sleeping. Her pelt melted into the dark and Lionwing was struck again by how different her two sister's were. Snowflight lit up the night and Shadowsong joined it. Snowflight was cold as ice and Shadowsong let her passion, her fury explode. Snowflight was her whole sister and Shadowsong was her half sister. Snowflight had left. And Shadowsong had stayed. She won't for long though, a little voice niggled in her mind. She'll leave to go back to her friends and her mate unless you stop her. Lionwing was borderline hysterical at the thought of being betrayed again, of losing another sister. But then her plan started to form. If she cares so deeply for her mate...why not take him away? She couldn't kill him, Shadowsong would fly into a rage. She had to break them apart. And she thought she knew how. "Thundercloud is dead. Lionwing killed him. Shadowsong is fine, she just didn't want for Oakclaw to get hurt. Stormflight's in love with me. Um...there's a rumor going around that Brookfall killed Firestar, which is why she's on FireClan's Most Wanted. There, that's pretty much all I've bee hiding or that you want to know," Snowflight rolls her eyes, not for the first time. "Will you listen to me now?" "I think we should," says Stormflight, the least biased of us all. (That was sarcasm). "Look, Stormflight, as much as you...like her, she's still FireClan." Gorsefur points out. "One of the two most dangerous FireClan cats around. And a perfect spy." "I trust her," Grayleaf announces suddenly. We all look at him and he shrugs. "When Thundercloud tried to kill me she helped me. And she never let the FireClan cats hurt me." Oakclaw shakes his head. "This is ridiculous. We should use her as leverage to get Shadowsong back or Lionwing to surrender." "We'd be no better than Thundercloud!" I exclaim, cuffing him on the head. He winces and glares at me. "What do you think?" Gorsefur asks me. His eyes narrow a little. "As my second, I mean." I feel a little thrill. I don't really relish in the thought of being the leader, but it is kind of...addictive. Which I mean in a totally non-power hungry way. Looking at Snowflight, I try to think. She does like Stormflight, whether she'll admit it or not. And she's never been terribly cruel, just loyal to her Clan. Slowly, I nod. "I think she's telling the truth." "Gorsefur..." Oakclaw growls. A brief pause. Then Gorsefur sighs, "She can stay." Oakclaw doesn't say anything. He just stalks into the forest. Gorsefur rolls his eyes and storms off to his nest. Stormflight and Snowflight look at each other and Stormflight, without breaking eye contact, meows, "Um...can you guys go...somewhere?" Grayleaf pops up, "I'll go get some herbs," he announces. Adderscar sigh heavily and pads into the forest. Not knowing what to do, I follow him. It's going to be a long night, "Why are we going this way again?" Shadowsong asked. "We're looking for Snowflight," Lionwing said patiently. Shadowsong stopped walking. "Lionwing...look...she left. She's not coming back." "You don't know that," Lionwing whispered. Despite herself, Shadowsong felt a stab of sympathy. She pressed against her sister, "I'm still here," she offered lamely. Lionwing nodded slowly, "Yeah. You are," she purred, then stopped, looking torn. "Shadowsong..." "What?" "There's something I should tell you but..." Lionwing shook her head. "You wouldn't believe me." "Try me," Shadowsong replied drily. Hesitating, Lionwing nodded. "Okay. Follow me." Snowflight and her stupid sister had broken Thundercloud free of prison. They had been dogging the squad for a moon and now Gorsefur wanted to let Snowflight in because Stormflight wanted to have little Snowstorm kits? Oakclaw was so annoyed he didn't even know where he was going. When his head finally cleared enough to think straight, he found himself in a darkened clearing. The trees surrounding it were practically black and silver-green leaves whispered in the soft breeze. It was thoroughly creepy and he was turning around, trying to figure out how to get back when he heard a twig snap. Spinning around, he crouched, unsheathing his claws in a fluid movement. It was Lionwing. He stood and growled. "What do you want." "Is Snowflight okay?" The question shocked him and he nodded. "Is Shadowsong okay?" Lionwing tipped her head, something she and Snowflight both did when they were thinking. Something Shadowsong did. "Why do you care so much? She abandoned you." "She saved my life," Oakclaw defended. "Well yeah," Lionwing sat down. "Honestly, I don't know why. You're obviously not that important to her. I mean, how many times has she had to save you? How many times has she broken your heart?" She eyed him. "I'm not saying she's wrong, I mean you are so not her type. But doesn't that bother you?" "Of course it bothers me!" Oakclaw exclaimed, his anger with Gorsefur and Stormflight and Snowflight bursting out at this golden she-cat. "She can be petty and self-absorbed and neurotic and sometimes I really hate her but-" There was a noise in the bushes and he looked up to see Shadowsong staring back at him. Her eyes were wide and he could see they were shiny with tears. He took a step towards her, but she turned and ran into the woods. "-but I love her," he finished, feeling like a jerk. Great job Oakclaw. "Thanks," Lionwing purred. "That's out of the way..." "How long was she there?" "Long enough to hear what you really think. I'm really looking forward to the day I can manipulate her into gutting you." She gave a little laugh and loped off after her sister. Oakclaw slumped to the ground. Stupid, stupid, stupid... "You okay?" Adderscar jerks his head up and gives a sigh of embarrassment. "I just wish they wouldn't constantly moon over each other-" "She's been here for an hour Adderscar," I purr, then growing more serious. "I mean about Badgerstrike." Adderscar snorts. "You're the only one brave enough to ask me about it." "So?" "No," he whispers. "I'm not." "Want to talk about it?" I ask, not really expecting a yes. Adderscar starts to shake his head, then thinks on something. "Actually...sure." "Um...okay. Well...what'd he say?" "He said he was sorry. He said I shouldn't ever forget Silverflower, but I needed to let myself heal. He said it wouldn't get any easier." "Are you still angry at him?" I ask, feeling a prickle of curiosity. I do love gossip, StarClan help me. Adderscar struggles with that one. "I just...I'm angry at what he did. Not him. Because he's still the tom who practically raised me, who was practically my mentor. And that's not going to change." "Do you think you can heal?" I ask, remembering when we saved him. How he wanted to die. That one's difficult as well. After a long silence, he finally says, "She tells me I should. I mean, I never really believed in StarClan. But then she started showing up in my dreams and it's like we're still together. Even though she's a dream and I'm...not. I don't ever want to stop loving her. I don't think I could. But I don't want to hurt any more." "Could you like any of the girls on our squad...?" I ask. "Briarclaw was annoying, and she's out anyways. Snowflight doesn't count. Shadowsong was okay, but she's taken. And so are you." I note that he doesn't say anything bad about me. When you think about how awkward he is, it's not that he's trying to be nice to me, that's his honest opinion. "Well, we go a lot of places...maybe you'll find someone." "Maybe," he says. And he sounds so miserable, I lean into him to comfort him. And some how the lean turns into our heads coming closer together. Closer. Closer. And then our noses touch. "So what are we?" Stormflight asked. "Cats," Snowflight purred a little and Stormflight poked her. "No, I mean..." he couldn't think of a word that wasn't weird. "Are we together?" She looked up at him, amber eyes dark as a fox's. "Of course we are. You know that." "Do I?" he muttered. She turned back to the stars. "I thought we were...a little more than that." He sat up, eyes wide. "You mean-" "Jeez, try not to be too eager," she snorted. "Stormflight..." She sat up as well. "I've been so torn about how I feel about you. You were WaterClan and I was FireClan and everything was weird. But now..." her nose touched his. "Now we're together." "So you're saying..." Stormflight could barely speak he was so excited. When he realized he was in love with Snowflight, he didn't know how something so sweet, so pure could be tainted by something as poisonous as the war. How something he wanted so badly he could hate because it defied every law, every commandment, ever fiber of his being. How something so true had to be a secret. But now...things were changed. Snowflight, if she wasn't WaterClan, was at least an ally. Not quite so forbidden. And he...whether he was half FireClan or all WaterClan, Thundercloud's or Badgerstrike's, he had a paw in each world too. "Yes," Snowflight purred, showing some of her emotions. Bashfulness. Excitement. Love. "I think we should be mates," she breathed, curling against him. Stormflight could only agree. Gorsefur was getting worried about Oakclaw. The tom had been known to do a lot of stupid things when he was calm, much less when he was angry with everyone. So he set off after him. It was dark by the time he finally found Oakclaw, hunched over in a creepily dark clearing. "You okay?" Mutely, Oakclaw shook his head. "What happened?" Gorsefur asked, sitting next to his best friend. "Do you remember," Oakclaw asked quietly. "When it was just us. Being soldiers, doing our thing. Without crazy enemies with insane plans, without the fate of the world on our shoulders. Without having to worry about losing cats..." "Yeah," Gorsefur sighed wistfully. "We got screwed over big time." "She's not coming back," Oakclaw whispered. "I know," Gorsefur replied sadly, giving his friend a nudge. "But we have to go." "What happened to 'leave no cat behind'?" Oakclaw asked bitterly. Gorsefur stood, a sad smile lingering on his face. "I figured out that the world will do whatever the dirt it wants and there's not much you can do to stop it. And Shadowsong's practically my sister. I want her back as much as you. But I'm not going to risk everyone else to do it. I won't lose anyone else." Oakclaw looked at his paws, squeezing his eyes shut. "But," Gorsefur continued, "Knowing our squad? We'll get her back. I mean, we're not exactly the norm. Come on, let's get back." Oakclaw nodded and stood, padding back with his friend. "Oh my StarClan," I whisper. "What did we just do," Adderscar asks, eyes wild. "I don't like you, you don't like me, what why how-" "We can't tell anyone, okay?" I say hysterically. "No one, okay? No one can know. Ever. No one." "Definitely," Adderscar agrees. "I mean, you're nice and I like you and all but...no. No." "Yeah. No." We sit in silence for a moment as I try to gauge how bad this is. Obviously neither of us has the wrong idea, but...what if Gorsefur finds out? What is Silverflower haunts me forever? "Well!" I finally say, just a little too loudly. "I should go! Yes, that's what I should do. I'll just...get going then." I stand a little too fast and scramble away. "Brookfall?" Oh no. I turn and Adderscar looks at me. "Thanks." His eyes widen a little. "For talking to me, I mean. For talking to me." "No problem buddy!" I meow, giving him a little wave with my tail. And then I turn around and run. The camp is quiet when I walk in, even though pretty much everyone's there except for Grayleaf and Adderscar, who's walking a little bit behind me. I'm pretty sure everyone can tell what happened, but no one gives us a second glance. I sit down next to Gorsefur and take everyone else in. Snowflight and Stormflight are sitting close together. Weirdly close. And they're looking at each other. Weirdly. Hrm. Oakclaw looks dejected. Guilty. I want to comfort him and that urge wars with the one to find out what happened. I'll as Gorsefur later. I avoid Adderscar's gaze and he does the same. Gorsefur looks twitchy and his eyes keep going to the forest. Waiting for Grayleaf to get back. I open my mouth to suggest we go look for him when the medicine cat himself walks out of the forest, chatting with a black and white she-cat. "This is Sparrowwing," he introduces. "She's a courier." Sparrowwing dips her head to us, "Waterstar said I'd find you here. She thanks you for your efforts at Red Rocks and says that many families are rejoicing at the return of their loved ones." I take pride in that. I know how much it hurts when someone you love is taken away from you, and how good it feels to get them back. "She also has a mission," the she-cat continues. "Oh thank StarClan," literally everyone except for Grayleaf choruses. He rolls his eyes, but his whiskers are twitching. Sparrowwing looks similarly amused. "It involves an EarthClan squad..." Everyone looks to Gorsefur for guidance. There's a moment of silence and I can hear all of us breathing, practically our heartbeats. Some beating in love, some beating in shame, some beating because they have to. Gorsefur nods, "Easy peasy. Consider it done." There's a collective release of breath and Sparrowwing dips her head, again, relaying all the information. Adderscar is already blithering on about EarthClan traditions, culture, history. Stormflight and Oakclaw are arguing about which of them will beat up the most EarthClan cats. Snowflight looks a little lost, a little confused. I just breath. Let my heart beat away all the anxiety, all the weirdness with Adderscar, everything except this. Time to show EarthClan what we've got. And by EarthClan, I mean that one squad. And by 'we', I don't be WaterClan. I mean our squad. I'm not really good at sounding kick-tail. Category:Artimas Hunter's Fanfics